What is the link between poker and backgammon/chess/bridge?

[cognito20]

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There don't seem to be many who are great at two (or more) of these games. Though I suppose it depends on your criteria for "great". There's no present day Oswald Jacoby, for instance. And, it's been a while since Billy Eisenberg was at the top of bridge and backgammon.

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Dan Harrington is certainly a great poker player, and the fact that he's won the World Cup in Backgammon (the most important tournament in the game, one that, according to Robertie, no one but a top world-class pro has -ever- won due to the extreme length of the matches required to win it) I think qualifies him as a backgammon great as well. As for his chess abilities, USCF Master rating certainly qualifies him as very, very good, but probably below what would be termed "great" in that game (GM rating or so). Still, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

--Scott

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